Exploring the real ‘Westeros’

Times Reporter

Stunning images of Northern Ireland are being shown on Sky Atlantic’s new magazine show in Italy – called Atlantic Confidential.

Tourism Ireland invited a presenter and crew from the show to spend last week in Northern Ireland, visiting various locations used for filming the hit TV series Game of Thrones, as well as some of our iconic tourism sites.

Atlantic Confidential is a magazine-style programme featuring a ‘behind the scenes’ look at some of Sky Atlantic’s most popular TV shows – with news, previews, interviews and, of course, footage of the filming locations. Game of Thrones is set to appear in four episodes, giving 5 million Italian viewers an opportunity to see and hear about Northern Ireland and showcasing the beautiful locations used for filming.

To coincide with the launch of Game of Thrones series five, the first episode of Atlantic Confidential featuring Northern Ireland was broadcast last weekend.

Many iconic Game of Thrones locations were visited by the Atlantic Confidential team, as they followed an itinerary prepared by Tourism NI. They began in County Down, where they visited Tollymore Forest Park, Inch Abbey and Castle Ward, before continuing on to the Titanic Quarter in Belfast.

The film crew also travelled along the Causeway Coastal Route, taking in Cairncastle, Glenarm, Cushendun, Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge, the Dark Hedges and Ballintoy. The Italians also visited some of our top visitor attractions including the Giant’s Causeway, Dunluce Castle and Mussenden Temple.

Speaking about the programmes, Niamh Kinsella, Tourism Ireland’s manager Italy, said: “The stellar popularity of Game of Thrones is a fantastic opportunity for us to showcase Northern Ireland’s wonderful landscapes to a huge audience of potential visitors – in Italy and elsewhere around the world. Sky Atlantic has massive viewership and we were delighted that the show’s producers chose to travel ‘on location’ to see what Northern Ireland has to offer.

Television and film are recognised as strong influencers for prospective holidaymakers and Tourism Ireland regularly works with TV and production companies around the world, to facilitate the making of lifestyle and travel programmes and films throughout the island of Ireland.”

Tourism Ireland undertakes a busy publicity programme around the world each year to raise the profile of the destination – and media visits to Northern Ireland are a key element of that programme.

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